1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in mounting assemblies for a sonar depth sounder transducer of the type used to measure water depth or to detect submerged objects such as fish, trees and river channels. The mounting assembly is connectable to a trolling motor.
2. Description of Prior Art
Fishermen and boaters use electronic sonar depth sounder systems extensively. These electronic sonar systems transmit and receive acoustical signals and display data on monitors located in the boat.
Fishermen use electric trolling motors attached to a boat to move a boat slowly through shallow water often laden with vegetation. Trolling motor transducers are commercially available and designed to be mounted on the outside of and below a trolling motor by an adjustable clamp. The trolling motor transducer is intended to provide an indication of the depth of the water below the electric trolling motor. Trolling motor transducers are commercially available from Techsonic Industries, Inc., One Hummingbird Lane, P. O. Box 261, Eufaula, Ala.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,106 discloses an adjustable band adapted to be secured about the outside of a trolling motor housing to mount a transducer on the outside of the nose of a trolling motor housing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,690 discloses a pivotal mechanism secured to the support shaft of a trolling motor for holding a transducer support mount vertically above the trolling motor. The pivotal mechanism is connected through a flexible control cable to a controlling device located in the boat.
Trolling motor mounting brackets attached to the outside of the trolling motor and protruding therefrom are vulnerable to entanglement with vegetation and susceptible to damage from submerged trees, rocks and the bottom of the body of water. The alignment and orientation of the transducer relative to the boat may be disturbed if contacted by vegetation resulting in inaccurate depth indications. Moreover, the power cable extending from the exposed transducer to the depth sounder is susceptible to being damaged by limbs and fishing lines.
Devices heretofore developed have not provided a totalling satisfactory method of attaching a transducer to a trolling motor such that the transducer and power cables are protected from damage.